Rep. Ted Poe<\/p>\n
Washington\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s decision to shut down nearly all US embassies and consulates in the Middle East, North Africa, and South Asia shows that \u00c5\u201cterrorism works,\u201d a congressman hinted.\n<\/p>\n
“Terrorism works — because we’re closing all of our embassies and consulates on one day,” Rep. Ted Poe, the chairman of the House’s terrorism and nonproliferation panel, told Foreign Policy\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s The Cable.\n<\/p>\n
“We’d rather be safe than have somebody hurt but the long term answer is every time someone gets information, we can’t shut them all down all over the world,” he noted.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
The US State Department ordered the closure of 21 diplomatic facilities on Sunday after intelligence agencies said they had picked up \u00c5\u201cchatter\u201d from senior al-Qaeda leaders indicating major attacks through August.<\/p>\n
“I do think it appears that the State Department doesn’t want to get in a situation like it did in Benghazi where the consulate was not secure despite requests for more security months in advance,” Poe said. “Part of the problem though is a public notice like this… The public knows so the bad guys know too.”\n<\/p>\n
The Sept. 11, 2012 attack on the US consulate in Benghazi, Libya, left four Americans dead, including US Ambassador Chris Stevens.\n<\/p>\n
The administration of Barack Obama was sharply criticized for not doing enough to protect the consulate and the personnel inside.\n<\/p>\n
Rep. Poe also cautioned against overreaction.\n<\/p>\n
“Our embassies cannot operate with a bunker mentality in foreign countries,” he said. “Our embassies are there to interact with the people of that country. I hope we don’t get into this bunker mentality mode.”\n<\/p>\n
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